Protests brewing against President Rajapaksa’s CWG presence

Opposition to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presence during the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi has been registered by certain sections in Tamil Nadu, say reports.

Issuing a statement, MDMK general secretary Vaiko states that the invitation to a leader of a country against whom the United Nations has appointed a panel to look into whether war crimes took place during the final phase of the battles against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cannot be condoned.

Vaiko has accused India of inviting the Sri Lankan President to portray him to the world as a person who had not committed any war crimes during the said battles and to create an image that the Sinhalese government had not ill treated the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Lankan Tamils Protection Movement convener P. Nedumaran too had stated that the Indian government’s invitation of President Rajapaksa tantamounts to rubbing salt on the injuries of the Tamils.